


Deluge

by whitherwaywill



Series: within the confines of canon [7]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Book 5: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Canon Compliant, Canon Era, Dancing in the Rain, During Canon, Gen, M/M, Minor Sirius Black/Remus Lupin, POV Remus Lupin, Remus Lupin Needs a Hug, remus worries, wolfstar if you squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-03
Updated: 2020-09-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:27:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26275651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whitherwaywill/pseuds/whitherwaywill
Summary: Sirius is not dealing well with his confinement, while Harry is at Hogwarts for his fifth year. Remus worries.
Series: within the confines of canon [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1739902
Kudos: 3





	Deluge

Remus was the type of person who worried _constantly_. He worried about things that (technically) he didn't _need_ to be worried about, on top of the things that directly affected him.

It was hard _not_ to worry. He was staying at Grimmauld Place, keeping Sirius company. His friend rattled about the old house with a familiar energy, the same restless energy that, years ago, he channeled into his animagus training. The energy Remus recognized from nights when Sirius would wake him up, grey eyes glittering, and they would sneak out to wander the castle and grounds of Hogwarts.

It was easy to get caught up in the memories of those days, when they were all young and invincible.

Now, Sirius looked old and haggard, and Harry was far, far away, at a Hogwarts that the Ministry was making into a battleground. Peter was a traitor, and James and Lily were dead.

"C'mon, Moony."

Sirius jolted Remus out of his head, slapping him on the shoulder. Remus winced.

"Where are we going?"

Sirius' eyes glittered, and he grinned – a ghost of the grin that used to lure Remus out of bed in the middle of the night. "Outside."

Remus swallowed. He hated to tell Sirius 'no'. Not when he _understood_ the agony his friend was in, trapped in this nightmarish house. "Sirius, we can't…"

Sirius' smile flickered, but he resolutely kept it in place. "C'mon, Moony." He dragged Remus out of his chair, and they traipsed through the house, through the servant's quarters, to a beaten wooden door Remus had never seen before.

It opened into a cramped yard, overflowing with dead weeds. Remus stopped walking, his mouth quavering at the sad, oppressive air.

Sirius left Remus hovering on the stoop, shifting into Padfoot and bouncing into the dead yard. It was slightly less depressing to see Padfoot sniffing around the edges, but if Remus tried hard enough, he could see Sirius, pacing the edges of this _new_ cage.

London's grey skies were particularly ominous that afternoon. Remus shrunk back underneath the overhang. It seemed like at any moment the skies would open up and swallow them whole.

Padfoot took no notice, circling the yard with his head to the ground, shoulders slumped.

Remus' own shoulders slumped too, and he was back to worrying. As much as Sirius was the same ebullient, daring boy he was in school, he had changed. Azkaban, then almost two years on the run… Now, he was imprisoned again, this time in the house he had grown up in.

Remus could only guess at how much he had been hurt in Grimmauld Place – Sirius didn't like to talk about it – but he didn't think it was pleasant, being back, _being trapped_.

He was afraid that if Sirius had to stay here much longer, it might break his spirit once and for all.

With a sudden crack, the skies opened up, and a deluge of rain poured down on them, like some higher power was doing its utmost best to drown the whole of London. Padfoot let out a yelp of surprise, freezing for a moment. Then he began barking with joy, gamboling about the yard with delight.

It made Remus smile, but he didn't lose the crease between his eyebrows.

Padfoot jumped back and forth, and began to bark at Remus. He clearly wanted Remus to join him, to run and jump in the rain and mud.

Remus didn't want to step out from under the overhang. It was too easy to imagine the rain to be his hundreds of worries, beating down on him and forcing him to his knees.

Padfoot rolled in a quickly forming muddy puddle, then romped back to Remus. Sirius changed back in a blink of an eye. He pressed himself close to Remus, squeezing against him under the small overhang. Remus suppressed a shiver as Sirius slung an arm over his shoulder, cold, wet skin sliding against his neck.

"Look at it, Moony," Sirius said. The dampness of his clothes, along with a healthy amount of mud, seeped into Remus', and he was shaking – but Remus couldn't tell if it was from the cold, or from excitement. "Doesn't it make you just want to -" He gesticulated wildly, unable to find the right words. His silver eyes glowed as he watched the downpour, and for a moment, he looked young again – like he had never even heard of Azkaban.

Remus boldly nestled his face in Sirius' neck, the way he used to when they were younger. If he stayed that way for long, he'd get a crick in his neck, he remembered, but it was always worth it.

Sirius' arm clenched tighter around Remus' shoulders. "I wish I could rip the roof off of this haunted house, let the rain in," he mused, tipping his cheek against the top of Remus' head. "It would be…" His gestures were smaller this time, as he found the word he was looking for. "Cleansing. Merlin knows the Ancient and Noble House of Black needs some of that." He sighed happily. "I always loved the rain."

The deluge showed no signs of letting up. Remus was content to stay there, watching and listening, intertwined with Sirius. But a restless buzz ran through Sirius, and he couldn't stay still.

He disentangled himself from Remus, darting out into the yard. He didn't shift into Padfoot this time, letting the rain stream over his face and hair like a shower.

"C'mon, Moony!" Sirius yelped, pelted by the rain. He spun in a circle, robes flying every which way.

Remus hesitated, watching the rain slam into the ground.

He took a deep breath. _Cleansing,_ he said to himself, hearing the word in Sirius' voice. _Cleansing._

Remus stepped out into the rain, and let it wash his worries away.


End file.
